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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Life of Sea | Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) |Goblin shark is a deep-sea shark, the only living species in the family Mitsukurinidae. The most striking characteristic of the Goblin shark is the unusual shape of his head. The Goblin shark is a demersal (living on or near the bottom) to mesopelagic inhabitant of outer continental shelf and found the slopes. They are slow and neutral buoyancy. Many are caught off Honshu, Japan. They live near the sea in specific locations in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. About half of the known specimens were found in the Sagami and Suruga Bays in Japan, others in Kaikura, New Zealand and southern Africa. A substantial population is reported from Madeira. Goblin sharks are found in Australia, New South Wales and possibly southern Australia.

Goblin shark has a long, trowel-shaped, beak-like rostrum or snout, much longer than other sharks' snouts. Some other distinguishing features of the shark are the color of his body, which is mostly pink, and its long, protrusible jaws. When the jaws are withdrawn, the shark resembles a pink-gray nurse shark with an unusually long nose. Their heterocercal tails are similar to the thresher shark, with the upper lobe significantly longer in proportion than other sharks. Furthermore, the Goblin shark's tail lacks a ventral lobe.

The pink color, unique among sharks is due to the blood vessels under a semi-transparent skin (bruising, which is easy), so the color. The fins have a bluish appearance. Goblin sharks lack a nictitating membrane. They have no precaudal pit and no keels. The front teeth are long and smooth edges, while the rear teeth are adapted for crushing. Up to 25% of the body of the goblin shark's weight can be liver. This is similar to other sharks like the basking shark and the shark ruffles, and contributes to the buoyancy of the shark, like all sharks lack a swim bladder.

Goblin sharks hunt by sensing the presence of prey with electro-sensitive organs in the stage, or snout, due to the absence of light in the deep waters where it swims. Once a shark finds its prey, it suddenly protrudes its jaws, while using a tongue-like ability to suck the victim into its sharp front teeth. Goblin sharks feed on a variety of organisms that live in deep waters. Some of their known prey are deep-sea squid, crabs and deep sea fishing. Goblin sharks are usually found as a fishing "bycatch. While they remain close to the seabed, they are usually caught via deep bottom-set gillnets and sea-bottom long-line fishing. They are sometimes caught by trawling. They are also sometimes found entangled by deep-fishing lines.